2019 Opel Mokka X SUV to get new platform and EV option

Opel’s baby SUV, the 2018 Mokka X is set to be updated next year, with the new crossover to be the first vehicle produced since the sale of Opel to PSA Group.

General Motors offloaded Opel last year in a deal worth 2.2 billion euros, giving PSA a 17 per cent market share in Europe. Compare this with Volkswagen Group’s 24 per cent and you can see why PSA was keen to get its hands on Opel.

Despite the large sale figure, Opel and Vauxhall haven’t been doing the best in recent years, and with the Opel Mokka X (also sold as the Buick Encore and Holden Trax) being one of its best selling models, it’s now time to replace it. After all, it’s been on sale since 2012.

The Mokka X replacement is currently undergoing durability testing and should hit the market in late 2019.

Underneath, the 2019 Mokka X gets PSA Group’s CMP platform which also underpins the DS 3 hatch, while the styling should be a familiar evolution of the current design language. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, as they say.

The same platform is also expected to sit underneath the Peugeot 208, DS 3 Crossback and Vauxhall Corsa, which should help to amortise R&D costs.

This will be the first Opel to receive a PSA Group platform, with the rest of the range still running on GM-designed platforms. Every car Opel builds on a GM platform requires a royalty to be paid to GM, hence the quick changeover to a PSA Group design.

In addition, the GM platform wasn’t going to be efficient enough. According to Michael Lohscheller, Opel’s CEO, the new platform overcomes many issues that would have arisen had the GM platform been retained.

“The Mokka successor was going to be an SUV based on General Motors architecture, which is heavy and doesn’t offer electrification,” Lohscheller told CarBuyer. “So I said ‘No, let’s stop this’. It’s a heavy platform, fuel efficiency is not good and the electrification is not there. So have we changed something in our portfolio of future cars after the takeover? I would say the Mokka is what we have changed, in terms of the architecture. We did not axe the Mokka programme, but we halted it in its current state and moved it to a PSA platform.”

PSA Group says that by 2024, all Opels will have switched over to their own platforms, so expect to see a raft of updated or redesigned models in the coming years.

While there aren’t any details yet about what engines will be powering the new Opel Mokka X SUV, it seems likely that it will receive two petrol models, a 1.2-litre turbocharged three-cylinder, and a warmer 1.6-litre turbocharged four.

While the platform can handle both front-wheel-drive and all-wheel-drive, we’d expect a simple front-wheel-drive arrangement, similar to the current Mokka X.

CarBuyer is also reporting that there could be an all-electric version on the way, which wouldn’t be surprising, given every car company worth its salt is looking to add an EV-powered SUV in the near future.

The new Mokka X is also expected to be around 30mm longer with a longer wheelbase, liberating more legroom.

A passionate writer, editor and driver, Karl is the go-to man when it comes to four wheels. With stints in television, radio, print and online, Karl has been writing about cars for more than a decade. He drives around 100 vehicles every year and has tested everything from Bugattis to Suzukis. Sometimes on track, sometimes off-road, his focus is on producing objective journalism without fear or favour.